


Teaching Affairs

by EggplantBoi



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 16:50:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18319373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggplantBoi/pseuds/EggplantBoi
Summary: A prompted teachers and secret dating AU.This is very much inspired by Jeremy’s dream of “I had a dream a few nights ago where I was teaching gymnastics again. But Ryan was too, and he was leading the group stretch before class, but making shitty dad jokes the whole time. I woke up and just started laughing”Prepare for dad jokes and attempted flirting.





	Teaching Affairs

Jeremy was a man who prided himself on the endless energy and passion that he dedicated to his work. If it were any other day, he would probably have arrived an hour earlier than needed to his job. Today wasn’t any other day though, because  _today_  he was rushing around trying to put himself together after sleeping in from a god awful hangover. It had only been a few weeks into the new school year. Yet, here he was, already having a “late” day to his new teaching job in Austin.

He had managed to sleep through his alarm, only to be awoken by the dozen or so phone calls from one of the head teachers. As he struggles to shove himself into his pants, he blurts out apologies and assurances through the phone that he’ll be there as soon as humanly possible. Why couldn’t he have been late on any other day when he doesn’t have a class first thing in the morning? In his defense, he appears to only be twenty minutes late when he checks his phone - inhaling a protein bar in no less than three bites as he does so. 

He chokes on the aspirin meant to solve his headache, costing him precious time as he coughs violently from it. His coat catches on the front door to his apartment and he almost decks it when he sprints to his car. It takes him the duration of the drive to notice that he’s got toothpaste stains on his jacket, and he curses the universe for being against him. Despite the odds, he manages to make it to Rooster Academy in one piece. 

When Jeremy arrives at the gymnasium, the very last of his limited breath he had from running is knocked out of him. The substitute teacher was a man he had never seen before, which meant he couldn’t have taught physical education. Although, he certainly looked like he could with a frame as muscular and fit as  _that_. The casual black fitting t-shirt and bootcut jeans the guy’s sporting is doing wonders in showing it off. He’s got a wonderfully deep and low voice too. it’s practically _booming_  throughout the gym hall while he leads the class through warm-up stretches. 

_“That’s it, guys. Just circle your arms upwards like you’re trying to wash a giraffe––”_

Holy fuck,  _who_  the hell is this guy? The worst part is Jeremy actually laughed at that, and perhaps even more so at the next few other colorful explanation of various stretches. He maybe even lurks back to appreciate the man’s form for awhile. Nothing wrong with that.

After a minute or so - choosing not to just stand at the entrance like a creep forever - Jeremy walks up to the front where the substitute was now enthusiastically doing tricep stretches. His students regard him as he makes his way and he gives subtle waves in reply. As soon as the man spots Jeremy, his face lights up into a charismatically wide smile.

“Hey there, didn’t know if you were coming in today.” The man quips as he continues to stretch. 

“I know, I’m late––” Jeremy starts, only to be startled by a sudden hand offered out to him.

“Hi late, I’m Mr. Haywood. Ryan Haywood at that - uh - well, technically James Ryan Haywood, but you can call me Ryan.” The man - _Ryan_  - wiggles his fingers in invitation for a handshake. 

Jeremy gapes up at him, completely thrown off kilter by the dad humour, before breaking out into a hearty laugh. He accepts the handshake, shaking his head endearingly as he does so. 

_“Seriously?”_

Ryan shrugs, and up close Jeremy admires just how stunningly handsome the man is; dad jokes and all. He’s got naturally slicked back light brown hair, intensely blue eyes and a strong jawline framed generously with stubble. Despite all the hard-cut edges, there’s a softness to his appearance. Definitely,  _definitely_  not Jeremy’s type.

“Jeremy Dooley. Technically, I’m Jeremy Nicholas Dooley, but you can just call me Jeremy.” He takes a gamble to kid Ryan right back, “but I’m sure you’ve been informed about me.” He ends the handshake to awkwardly push his sweaty and unkempt hair back, embarrassed by his own unprofessionalism. He hopes he doesn’t look too messily put together, his uniform was basically sweatpants and a shirt anyway.

“Yeah, Ramsey told me about you. Wild party last night, huh?” Ryan smiles knowingly, his demeanor friendly; if a tad judgemental. 

“Ehhh, something like that,” Jeremy waves him off dismissively as he turns towards his class, who are still stuck doing tricep stretches. Time to do his job. 

Jeremy claps his hands together, “alright guys, we’re gonna wrap-it up with the last few stretches and then hopefully we can get some landing practices in, okay?” 

The students make unanimous sounds in unison, and as Mr. Haywood takes his leave with a polite nod, Jeremy feels unusually thankful that he was late today.   

—

Jeremy had just finished with his second period class - preparing to lift a pommel horse back into the gym’s supply closet when he hears that wonderfully deep voice again, “hey buddy, let me help you with that.”

He feels the warmth of another person pass by him, joined with a soft pat to his shoulder. He glances up to see Ryan at the opposite end of the pommel, hoisting it up. Jeremy wishes he didn’t notice how attractively the man’s biceps flex as he does so. He really wasn’t wrong about his assumptions of Ryan’s strength, the pommel feels a ton lighter with them both carrying it.

“What are you doing back here? It’s break time, don’t you have a class you should be preparing for?” Jeremy can’t help but ask as they step together. It takes a few to find their balance, considering Ryan’s got a considerable amount of inches on height compared to Jeremy.

“Aw, no ‘thank you?’” Ryan teases with a grin that’s all teeth and charm, “and I’m free until fourth period, just your luck.” He grunts as they lay the pommel down onto the closet floor.

“You wanna go through those same five stretches again with my freshman class?” Jeremy snickers up at him as he straightens his back, standing upright after letting go of the pommel.

“Oh,  _come on_. I’m a drama teacher, I’m sorry that my gymnastics knowledge was fairly limited.” Ryan scoffs, but he’s still smiling from ear-to-ear. The taller man relaxes against a shelf containing various sport supplies, and Jeremy suddenly feels very  _small_  as he’s looked down upon. 

“ _Ahhhh_ , so you’re a theater nerd? That explains your dramatic retelling of how to do a simple lunge.” Jeremy props himself next to Ryan, feeling accomplished with his back talk. At least he is, until Ryan inclines closer, crowding Jeremy’s space.

“Just how long  _were_  you watching me?” Ryan whispers, as if anyone was around to hear them.

_Shit._

Jeremy has a sudden need to back away so that he can catch his breath. He’s running out of oxygen from having Ryan so close to him - those questioning eyes pinning him in place. All he can do is push backwards against the metal shelving, and with no other option besides looking like a fool, he decides to play Ryan at his own game.

“For a few minutes. After all, your theatrics were  _very_  entertaining.” Jeremy daringly tilts his head upwards as Ryan’s eyebrows hike in interest. 

_The ball’s in your court, Haywood._

“Really? I’m glad you thought so, maybe I could give you a private show sometime.” Ryan fucking  _winks_  and proceeds to chuckle at his own pick-up line. 

Well then. Jeremy’s lost for words, because surely Mr. Dad Humor can’t possibly be trying to flirt with him right now. There’s no way this dorky father archetype wasn’t married.  _Fuck it_. Jeremy attempts to stir the pot by asking, “you use those lines on your wife, Mr. Haywood?”

Ryan frowns, flexing his fingers as he says, “I don’t see a ring on my finger, do you?” 

Oh, right. Wedding rings. Those were a thing you’d make sure to keep an eye out for before flirting with someone at a bar. Whereas, Jeremy wasn’t at a bar. He was in a musty gym supply closet making a fool of himself in front of some theater teacher who was  _maaaybe_  into him?

“Dude, you’re seriously not married?” Slips out of Jeremy’s mouth, in that he’s genuinely taken aback by this information. What also unintentionally slips out is, “how old are you?” 

“Ouch, Jeremy. You wound me.” Ryan dramatically ( _of course_ ) clenches his hands around his heart, feigning pain. His added pouting really sells the role. 

“Ah –– I didn’t mean it like––”

“I know,” Ryan chuckles smoothly, his frown immediately turning upside down. “I’m thirty five.”

“Damn, you make aging look  _good_.” Jeremy’s idiot mouth strikes again. The way Ryan’s head quirks at that comment - his expression somehow a mix of smug and coy - makes Jeremy want nothing more than the ground to swallow him whole. 

“Look, I-I really need to get everything set-up for my next class, so––”

“I can help!” Ryan beams, springing into action. ”What’re we lifting, boss?”

Jeremy lets out a humored breath, amused by Ryan’s eagerness to please. “Why?” He asks, because he needs to know. “Why do you want to help me so bad?”

Ryan comes to a halt, his hands noticeably fidgety as he struggles to find his words. “Uh –– I don’t know? I guess someone has to make sure you don’t throw-up––”

“ _Hey_!” Jeremy bats Ryan on the arm, laughing as he does so. Ryan’s laughing too, at an unexpectedly high-pitch that comes out of  _nowhere_. It’s more adorable than it has any right to be. “I’m feeling perfectlyfine. I didn’t even wake up in the tub this morning!”

“You  _what?_ ” Ryan squeaks.

“Listen, I’ll explain tub Jeremy while you help me get these mats out, okay?”

Ryan eyes up the mats, his bubbly laughter dying down. “Alright, sounds like a plan.” 

—

To say Ryan was smitten; would be the biggest understatement of the year. Or relatively, so far. It wasn’t like him to start crushing on someone so easily, but this Jeremy Dooley guy was _different._  

Different, as in he was undeniably interesting. Sure, the guy had looks for days, (Ryan certainly took notice of that) but that wasn’t the main reason he was so drawn to him. There was just something so animated in the way Jeremy talked and the way he expressed himself. It was captivating. Ryan could watch and listen to him for hours on end.  Regrettably, he couldn’t spend all day admiring Jeremy. Ryan had his own classes to tend to. 

Maybe Ryan pushed his luck in trying to know more about Jeremy after their brief meeting, but the younger man seemed to be genuinely interested in Ryan back. It could have just been from curiosity rather than romantic investment, but it was flattering nonetheless to have those hazel eyes trained on him as he talked away. The way those dimples deepened with every smile Jeremy shared with Ryan, stuck with him even after he had to leave. 

The rest of the school day got ahead of Ryan, mostly due to him and the other drama teachers preparing to set up auditions for this year’s Christmas school play. But, there was always time tomorrow to bother the newbie.

Ryan walked into the theater staffroom the next day, only to find a twelve-pack of diet coke cans waiting there for him. Well, he didn’t know they were specifically for him until he saw the note attached while he was sneaking a can from the pack. 

_“Hey Ryan! This is a ‘thank you’ for your help! (Even if If I didn’t necessarily ask for it.) I originally was trying to find you at breaktime yesterday, but when I asked around about where the drama classes where, I got avid warnings about Mr. Haywood the “diet coke thief”. I figured I’d save the poor teachers from your thieving-ways and buy you a few cans to keep you at bay… for now. If you want more, maybe you should call me and we can hangout sometime? Here’s my number.”_

And there it was, Jeremy’s phone number. Right next to a funny little doodle of what Ryan assumes is of himself sneakily drinking a can of diet coke. It’s pretty amazing. What’s also amazing is the fact that  _Jeremy_  just gave him his phone number. 

“What’s that ya’ got there?” 

Ryan almost jumps out of skin from the sudden voice behind him. He promptly turns around to face the scrutinizing eyes of Geoff Ramsey, who gestures to the stack of cans.

Ryan blanks for a hot second before answering, “a present? From Dooley, he was thanking me for his helping him out yesterday––”

“You mean subbing for him? That’s your job, idiot.” Ramsey interrupts with a cocksure grin, reaching past Ryan to snag a diet coke. Ryan glares daggers at him as he does so.

“Nah, not for subbing. I helped him with his class set-up,” Ryan signs a hand in the air to emphasize his point. “Y’know, like – moving shit.” 

Geoff almost spits out his first sip of coke. “W _hat?_ You, Ryan Haywood, helping someone out of the good of your own heart? I call bullshit.”  

“What!? I help out all the time! Do you know how many people here don’t know the basic functions of a computer!?” 

“Again, that’s sorta your job. This on the other hand…” Geoff studies the coke can closely, as if it were the mastermind pulling the strings behind Ryan’s unusual behaviour. “What’s your angle with with this Jeremy kid?”

“Wha –– My  _angle_?” Ryan exclaims, playing ignorant.

“Yeah, your angle. What’s up with the ‘helping’ and the ‘presents’.” Geoff draws quotations marks with both hands. 

Ryan taps his fingers on a can rhythmically as he mulls over his feelings, “he seems like a nice guy. He’s kind of disorganized and inexperienced, but definitely a hard worker. I was just looking out for him, making sure he didn’t puke on the new gym equipment you guys complain about the pricing for every year.” 

Geoff nods. Like he understands. And like he’s going to drop the subject. Then, he languidly steps nearer to Ryan and grips his shoulder. With a fixed look he says, “I think Jeremy’s a nice guy too. Which is  _why_ , I don’t want you fucking him. Inner-office-romance-drama is  _not_  a good way to get settled into a new job.”

He gives Ryan a hardy pat on the back, and then takes his exit. Ryan’s left aghast, trying to form words when Geoff half-way out the door adds, “I forgot, the reason I came here was to tell you that it’s an okay from me for the play this year. Have fun with it, and keep your dick in your pants, alright?”

And he’s gone, leaving Ryan in the room with his thoughts and one less diet coke.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank for for any kudos or comments! I'll try and update the chapters regularly. :D


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